But coach Charlie Weatherbie, who concludes spring workouts Saturday with a noon intrasquad scrimmage at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, says he has the nucleus to duplicate or even improve on last year's record.

Said Weatherbie: "With every team I've been involved with as a coach or player, when the defense dominates in the spring, you usually have a good team in the fall."

The Mids boast both depth and size on defense. In the past, Navy lacked the beef to compete against the likes of Notre Dame, but that has changed dramatically.

"I've got David Viger and Jason Snider, both around 270 pounds, playing in front of me now," said Cooley. "That makes it a lot easier for the linebackers to do their job."

With two experienced seniors -- Cooley and Jason Coffey -- at linebacker, Weatherbie says the Mids will be able to compensate for Bruce's absence.

The secondary is also solid with the return of co-captain Gervy Alota, All-America candidate Sean Andrews and opportunistic Rashad Smith, who had four interceptions -- two for touchdowns -- and two fumble recoveries last season.

Offensively, the ball is still in the hands of Heisman Trophy candidate Chris McCoy, who accounted for 1,987 yards running and passing as a junior. No major shake-up in play-calling is expected, despite the departure of offensive coordinator Paul Johnson, who has been replaced by protege Ken Niumatalolo.

Promising junior Irv Dingle is pushing senior Tim Cannada for the starting fullback job, and junior wide-out Mark Mill has shown signs of filling the big-play void left by Schemm.